Today, people use many different types of pillows to try and get a good night's sleep. These various types of pillows employ different materials, textures, and comfort levels to account for variations in what people prefer in a pillow. But nearly all pillows have one thing in common: microorganism growth and allergen accumulation.
The hospitality industry of hotels and motels is beginning to cater to this real problem. It has moved toward pillows with down and feather fills, as alternatives, and many are not only washing the pillow covers, but washing the pillow itself. Herein lies a particular problem: pillows are thick and difficult to wash. Even one or two hotel pillows can fill a commercial washer and dryer, and take hours to dry, while only really washing the outside of the pillowcase. It is difficult for air and water to get through the pillowcase fabric and thick cotton ball-types of fillings. Even feathers and down tend to clump together when wet, resulting in similar difficulties. Many pillows cannot even be washed.
Many pillow makers have concentrated on comfort as a leading factor in developing pillows, rather than managing microorganism growth. Thorough cleaning is an effective technique for managing microorganisms in pillows, but because current pillow designs are often difficult to clean, this results in un-effective microorganism management. Some pillow designs make claims of being washable in conventional washing machines. Unfortunately, most of these pillows suffer from similar problems, such as: I) an inability to effectively permit hot water and air to penetrate to the core of the pillow in such a manner as to kill the bacteria and molds, without sacrificing the comfort and quality that is essential to sleep; 2) an inability to be washed and dried quickly enough to finish in one cycle; 3) a requirement that a pillow be balanced in a washing machine, such as by the use of a second pillow or other items (e.g., tennis balls), to balance the pillow and/or beat the pillow clean; and 4) a failure to fully dry the center of the pillow, even in multiple cycles in a dryer.
Often, pillows with regular polyester, feather, and/or down fill are difficult to dry, let alone wash. Similarly, pillow cases made out of higher density materials (e.g., 300, 200 or 100 count cotton, or synthetic, blended, or other tightly woven materials) typically hamper the penetration of water and air to the center of the pillow.
Some companies have turned to chemicals along with various other materials to try and solve some of the problems with washing pillows. However, these chemicals/materials have a tendency to settle and make the pillow uncomfortable. Also, some companies have tried to make pillows with foam materials and/or washable cases. But many times the foam can only be spot cleaned or dry cleaned. Yet other products that are made of plastics can be brittle, and often do not have the right combination of cushion, conformability, shape adjustability, and high quality cleaning capability. Previously, the predominant outlook of pillow cleaning has been that pillows can only be cleaned on the surface and not deep inside.
The inventor has recognized that what is needed is a pillow which offers superior cushioning, form fit, overall shape and support, is easy to thoroughly clean, and enables the user to reach inside the core to really feel that it is dry. Thus, it is with respect to these and other considerations that the invention has been made.